Douglas College offers Veterinary Office and Animal Care Certificate, a certificate in Veterinary Medicine programme in New Westminster, Canada. The programme runs for 24 weeks, delivered on campus. Teaching is in English. Tuition is CAD 6,569 per total for local students.
The Veterinary Office and Animal Care (VOAC) certificate program was developed for Douglas College by a practicing veterinarian working with experts from the animal care community, and it prepares students for the varied duties of a veterinary assistant, with a focus on small domestic animal care. The program aims to build career-ready skills, knowledge and workplace attitudes through a curriculum grounded in independent learning and information literacy, oral, written and interpersonal communication, critical and creative thinking, teamwork, and computational and technical skills, delivered through hands-on training, real-world assignments, case studies and practicums. Practical skills training takes place off campus at animal shelters, veterinary clinics and rescue agencies rather than solely on the Douglas College campus. Graduates are intended to be capable of duties such as assisting a veterinary team in a small-animal clinic, hospital, shelter or rescue setting; handling reception, bookkeeping and veterinary software tasks; performing basic patient assessments; supporting grooming, hygiene and external parasite control; operating and maintaining laboratory and diagnostic equipment; and assisting during X-rays, anesthesia administration, and dental and surgical procedures. Applicants must be at least 18 years old by the end of the program's first semester and must provide proof of age. On completion, students receive a Veterinary Assistant Certificate that the college states is recognized throughout British Columbia.
Requirements
Admission Requirements: Admission requires completion of all of the following: a submitted resume; an official transcript showing British Columbia secondary-school graduation or its equivalent; English 11 completed with a grade of C or better; Life Sciences 11 (formerly Biology 11) completed with a grade of C or better; being 18 years of age or older by the end of the first semester of the programme, evidenced by a birth certificate or other proof of age; a keyboarding speed of at least 20 words per minute; and basic computer skills. The programme page publishes no separate English-language proficiency test score for international applicants, stating only the English 11 grade-C requirement above. Once offered a seat, applicants must also provide proof of current tetanus immunisation and purchase an extra scrub, in addition to the Douglas College-logo scrub supplied with the programme. Fall 2026 intake application deadline: August 7, 2026, though late applications are accepted if seats remain.
Application Details
Start Date:Fall 2026 intake
Application Deadline:Douglas College publishes college-wide application windows rather than a single date for every programme, and the domestic and international timetables differ. Domestic applicants apply through EducationPlannerBC: for the 2027 entry cycle, Fall applications open 1 October 2026, Winter applications open 1 February 2026, and Summer applications open 1 June 2026; limited-enrolment programmes set no fixed close and shut once seats fill, while open-enrolment programmes stay open until 4:00 p.m. the Friday before the semester starts. International applicants apply directly to Douglas: Fall 2026 entry is now closed, Winter 2027 entry is accepted until 30 September 2026, and Summer 2027 entry until 31 January 2027. Admission is effectively rolling within each window until seats or the deadline are reached. These are institution-wide dates; this programme publishes no deadline of its own.
